Suggested reading: Luke chapter 2 verses 25-35.

It has not been revealed to many individuals as to precisely when they are going to die. However, a man called SIMEON, who lived in Jerusalem, was an exception to this rule. He longed for the coming of the Messiah, who would bring comfort and consolation to the nation of Israel and the light of salvation to the Gentiles. God promised him that he would not die before he had seen the Messiah. I suspect that he went into the temple in Jerusalem every day with the thought burning in his heart, ‘Perhaps today, I will see him!’ He could not rest until that time arrived.

SIMEON means ‘one who hears / listens.’ He had listened to what God had said to him and believed it in his heart. Every day, no doubt, many children would have been brought into the temple by their parents to present them to the Lord, as God’s Law required them to do. Simeon was so close to God that there was no possibility that he would miss this great event! Immediately he saw Mary and Joseph, with Jesus, the Holy Spirit revealed to him that the moment he longed for had arrived – he had seen the Messiah! He not only looked on Him but God graciously granted him the unique privilege of taking Jesus up in his arms, verse 28.

At long last, Simeon was able to say, with deep conviction, ‘Lord, now, You are letting Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for my eyes have seen Your salvation’, verses 29-30. The only way in which we can truly depart from this life in peace is if we have ‘seen’ Jesus Christ as our Saviour. Simeon’s LAST RECORDED WORDS in the Bible, therefore, focused on Him and the work He had come to do: ‘Behold this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel and for a sign which will be spoken against’, verse 34.